Recently in Guilford Category

In October, the town of Guilford reached an agreement with the Goss family to protect hundreds of acres of open space along the East River and tonight, a special town meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Greene Community Center, 32 Church St., to consider a resolution to appropriate $15,450,000, through bonding measures, for costs associated with the acquisition of that Goss property - which according to the Guilford Land Conservation Trust web site, would cover more than 600 acres and two miles of the East River's shoreline.

(The photo above is a beautiful view of the East River, which I borrowed from the land trust's web site.)

Tonight's meeting is an information/discussion session - more of a formality in preparation for an upcoming referendum scheduled for Jan. 27 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at one voting location only - the Guilford Fire Department's central complex at 390 Church Street. Here is the formal legal notice on tonight's meeting:

"This is right on the East River and it incluces 1. 8 miles of river frontage, it's extermely imporant for the ecologialc health of the east river," said Gary MacElhiney, chairman of the town's Land Acquisition Committee, which deals with all types of properties, from commercial to open space. "This actually includes 48 acres of land that is available for any municipal use. It is adjacent to two pieces of property the town now owns."

As you can see on the Guilford Land Conservation Trust's web site, the organization strongly supports this effort to protect the East River and its adjacent lands.

"This is a historic opportunity for the town and its really a choice about what we want our town to be like in the future," land trust vice president Sarah Williams told me during a phone conversation this morning. "Guilford has a fabulous legacy of land protection and this is a critical piece of the puzzle."

Sarah said the people of Guilford really seems to understand the importance of preserving open space.

"This project has had broad based community support for years," she said. "I think open space, once its lost, its lost forever, so if you have an opportunity like this, its probably the only time you are going to have such an opportunity."

The land trust will offer free guided walks of the proposed East River Preserve on Thursday at 11 a.m. starting from Duck Hole Road and on Jan. 24 at 10 a.m. from Duck Hole Road to the outlook a little north of the Clapboard Hill Bridge and at 1 p.m. featuring a four-mile loop on old logging roads and farm roads with some entry through the woods into the woodlands.

Land acquisition has been catching on. In November, the state agreed to give out $10.2 million in grants to help preserve about 2,440 acres of open land in 29 communities under the OpenSpace and Watershed Land Acquisition Grant Program. Over the past year, several communities and land trust organizations across the state including Windsor Locks, Farmington, Guilford, Simsbury, were able to acquire parcels of land that will not be developed, but preserved as open space. Middletown and Middlefield are currently eyeing a 50-acre parcel and in November, the DEP acquired 304 acres in Cornwall and Canaan, using federal Highlands Conservation Act funds.

"There is a lot of evidence that shows that it is a lot cheaper to acquire open space than to let it go to development," said Gary MacElhiney. "Because the cost to the town for services and schools can exceed the tax reveneues. It changes the quality of life."

If acquired, this Guilford property could offer some pretty fantastic recreational opportunities to the people of Connecticut - which makes it all of ours to enjoy.

So if you do take the land trust up on these free hikes, let me know about them and share your photos and experiences here. Below is an image of an immature bald eagle Courant reporter David Funkhauser caught on camera as it was perched above the East river, closs by the Goss property in late October. Dave said there were two of them exploring the river, along with osprey and hawks.

The Rev. Kim Wilson, a writer, community minister and debt counselor, has written a very pertinent article titled "Don't Go Broke For Christmas" which I have attached for your perusal here.

It's upbeat and includes lots of ideas on how to stretch your dollars during the holiday season, such as budgeting, avoiding impulse buying and giving home made, baked items or unique things found thrift shops or tag sales.

Rev. Wilson will be featured on an upcoming program on Guilford Community Television which is viewable through Comcast Cable on channels 18, 19 and 20. The station director told me that the show has been taped, but has not been scheduled yet. To find out when the show it going to be on, visit www.guilfordtv.org. I will keep and eye out too, and will provide an udate when I obtain it.

Yum! that's what I have to say about the bi-weekly Farmers Market that is still being held at on the Usdan Center courtyard at Wesleyan University. Well...yum and brrrrrr, because today, it was pretty darn frigid out there - but then I wasn't standing around selling fruit, pies, fresh vegetables, baked goods, honey and lots of other great produce like the dozen or so venders who were there!

The market, which was started by Wesleyan students in 2006, will be held once more on Nov. 5 - but there is talk of offering it indoors in the winter - a nice opportunity for vendors to keep their products out there after the other local farmers markets close down for the season.

This glorious fruit, offered by Chris Bassette and Omar Ibarria from the Killam & Bassette Farmstead in South Glastonbury, was so temptingly displayed - macouns, empires, golden delicious, gallas and bosc pears, along with home made jams.

Cutie Madeline Lane, who was shopping with her mommy Heather Lane - the spouse of a Wesleyan faculty member, made short work of this sugar cookie. "Could they make that cookie any bigger?" her mom joked.

Wesleyan student Ann Wheeler of Rhode Island stopped by the market today for the same thing she bought last time - a chocolate cheesecake brownie from Tony Meriano - owner of Meriano's Bake Shoppe in Guilford. Shoppers had a lot of choices at this table - breads, hot sandwiches, pizza slices and Italian cookies like peanut butter balls, anginetti cookies, made from 50-year-old Meriano family recipes. (Too bad I left my wallet in the car!!)

"The kids are really receptive, they seem to appreciate the hand-made and local items here," said Andrea Fanelli, Mr. Meriano's daughter, who sells their fresh baked items at several different farmers markets during the summer and fall. "It's a great way to interact face to face with the customers and do some advertising. With the economy the way it is, you have to go to the customers now, you can't expect, with gas prices, that they will come to us."

Glenn PenkoffLidbeck of Three Sisters Farm in Essex (who added his wife's last name to his own - love it!!!) was selling honey he draws from the bee hives on his farm and hand made soaps and candles. His table had the luxurious scent of lavender, which he said he also produces.

Richard Penderson who was working the Lebanon-based Beltane Farm table with his wife Helen, was a gooood salesman. He was offering big delicous-looking hunks of goat cheeses and hand-made soaps. Located next to Wilton's Wave Hill Breads display- the two booths offered some pretty delicious combinations!!

"It's wonderful, said Wesleyan senior Trent Grassian, pictured in the middle, "I come every time, it's my favorite. Me and my housemates are always cooking, so this is a great way to get fresh produce on campus. This makes us very happy!"

The kayaker, 21-year-old Corey Robbins, got stuck in choppy seas and used his cell phone to call for help when his kayak got water logged. Lucky thing he had his phone with him! He said he had been hanging onto a buohy for a few hours before help arrived.

I'd like you to meet this very interesting, brave and strong woman I met recently. Her name is Christine Willett, who had contacted me about a golf tournament fundraising event she is coordinating in August, to help raise money for a proposed documentary titled "Life after the Storm" which will feature young women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer and their stories of struggle, hope and survival. She learned about the film through "In the Pink" a monthly, Guilford-based breast cancer support group for women under 50.

Christine, who is 31, a fourth grade teacher, wife and mother of two boys, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 when she was seven months pregnant with her youngest son Chase. After the diagnosis, Christine was thrust in the world of cancer treatment, where she learned more about her own body and the medical jargon related to cancer procedures, tests and medicine than she ever dreamed she'd ever know.

The documentary will offer a glimpse into the busy lives of women under 50, like Christine, who are mothers, professionals, wives and lovers, and how they deal with the stresses of having cancer.

"Young survivors are often a demograph that is overlooked," Christine told me, over coffee recently, at Durham's Perk on Main. "Because we are diagnosed younger, survivors are living longer and are living with all these syptoms longer.. we have issues that are different from older women who are dianosed."

Planning the golf tournament fundraiser (scheduled for Aug. 12 at Lyman Orchards Golf Club in Middlefield), reflects Christine's decision to get involved with cancer education and outreach and to take more time to do the things that feed her own soul - such as learning how and regularly playing golf with her friends.

Another cool fundraiser is the group's Art Bra Auction and Art Auction, planned for Sept. 11 at the Madison Beach Hotel, during which bras that were decorated by group members and local artists, will be featured in a fashion show (models wearing t-shirts underneath) and then auctioned off to the highest bidder. Money supports the documentary project.

Here is an example of one of the bras that will be auctioned. Pretty cool no? I don't play golf, but I do wear bras! I think I may check out this event! Check out the group's web site for more info on either of these events or call 860-985-8682.

Thank you to an anonymous poster who alerted us to the fact that a group of paintball players have raised money for the child who was injured by the 14-year-old shooter of a paintball gun.

A local television station is reporting that Tech PB said it raised $800 money for the child's family as an apology on behalf of all paintball players. Nice gesture players! I'm sure the money and your concern for the incident will be much appreciated by this girl's family.

A 14-year-old was charged in firing the paintball gun that injured a 1 year old in Guilford recently. Police were able to find the boy after he was supposedly bragging about what he had done. He was bragging about shooting a paintball at a little kid! I bet he's not bragging anymore.

If this scenario is not a good reason to do something about paintball guns, I don't know what is. Imagine what might have happened if the boy had found a real gun under the bed in the home he was visiting?

Oh but we aren't talking about real guns here, even though this kid treated the paintball "toy" he found like it was real. At 14, the temptation to leave the thing alone must have been too great, and now a little girl is hurt.

Kid's don't always use good judgement, because they are you know, kids. The more access they have to weapons, toys or real, the greater the chances are of someone getting hurt.

What if that acess could be limited? How about being a little more responsible with our belongings and store them in a secure place instead of say, under the bed.

And what if we started to think really hard about the influences - media, movies, music lyrics, role models - that our children are exposed to. It might help them to make smarter decisions when tempation comes along.

I learned about the place through a good friend and co-worker who alerted me to a recent lecture there, hoping I might have the chance to attend. I couldn't get to the lecture titled "What is FGM (Female Genital Mutilation)? presented by Florence Ali, President of the Ghanian Association for Women's Welfare, but the topic and the whole idea of a center geared to women and families so intrigued me I decided to go and visit.

My visit was good timing, said program director Pamela Ryder, because the non-profit group is on the verge of launching a new direction for the Center as well as a new educational series reaching out to families on the shoreline.

Right now, the center offers support and informational programs, such as the one I just mentioned, as well as support groups for divorcees, classes for moms and children and health-related sessions in tai chi and yoga. Another big part of the mission there is to provide referrals to services like counseling, legal and financial advisement and domestic abuse issues. An entire wall of the center's office displays dozens of informational pamplets from local organizations that offer all kinds of support.

Services will be expanded upon in the months to come, Pamela told me, and the center's vintage buildings - originally the historic Abraham Woodward House and carriage house - will be even more available for use by members of the community through additional programming and a general open door policy.

"We want women to know that they are welcome to just stop by and say hello," said Pamela. "If they are shopping in Guilford Center, just come by and have a cup of tea with us and relax or go out to the carriage house where there is a playroom for children or outdoor playground."

The center's biggest events are the "Men Who Cook" in November and the Women's Health Conference, a two-day event generally held in March at the Mystic Marriott. These are fundraisers for the center, which will help raise money for programming and activities such as the upcoming "Kazoo" a free family event on the Guilford Green, July 20 with music, entertainment and hands on activities. Look for more in one of my upcoming columns in the Sunday print section of iTowns - closer to the date. Or better yet, go visit the center at 96 Fair St., Guilford or call them at 203-458-6699.